


The Games Roll On

by coreopsis



Series: LTL [1]
Category: Larger Than Life - Backstreet Boys (Music Video)
Genre: Gen, Loneliness, Science Fiction, Spaceships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-11-18
Updated: 2003-11-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 00:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3957397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coreopsis/pseuds/coreopsis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The games are really all that keep him sane. If he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Games Roll On

Kevin drags himself out of his bunk and wonders why he even bothered going to bed at all. He doesn't sleep much and when he does the dreams leave his face wet and his hands shaking. When his hands shake he can't play the games as well.

The games are really all that keep him sane. If he is. 

Even though there's little strategy involved, he plays the robot one a lot. The main character is called NK-4000 by the computer, but Kevin calls him Nick. He talks to him and sometimes the pretty 3-D face seems like it's going to answer, but it doesn't and the game rolls on. 

He likes the airboard game because it reminds him of being a kid and riding his board for countless hours when his studies were over. He pretends he's flying right alongside his onscreen character, swooping to catch an errant pass, bending low to duck the rings, turning flips and laughing with the sheer joy of it. The wind in his hair, the floor far below him, and absolutely knowing that if he falls the failsafes kick in and he'll be all right. 

He hasn't felt that safe, that sure in a very long time, even though the ship's automatic jeopardy response system is top of the line. He knows the AJ will alert him to any danger and help him deal with it, but it can't keep the danger from happening in the first place. He talks to the ship's computer therapist about it because he's required to by strict space force regulations, but that just makes him feel spied on. It doesn't make him feel better or any less lonely. 

For that, he plays the dance sequences. His avatar mixes with the others--the seductive women, the beautiful men, the mysteriously sultry androgynes--interacts with them and makes him almost feel as if he's not all alone a few million light-years from home. Home, where the only thing he misses more than people is music. 

But the one he plays the most is the fighting simulation. He needs to keep his hand-eye coordination sharp and his skills ready, in case he ever runs into any other ships. It could happen any day now. The computers scan the region constantly, and when he meets someone he'll be prepared. Grateful, scared, excited, but prepared. But until then, the games roll on. 

 

The end.


End file.
